Dreaming of Sandwiches
by Nephi136
Summary: Death wasn't quite what I expected it to be. My rebirth wasn't much better. And now even the things I thought I knew about this world are have stopped mattering. I think I'm starting to understand why the Bijuu are ticked off all the time. Rated T for violence. Rating might be raised later.
1. Prologue

A/N: Yet another SI inspired by Dreaming of Sunshine. Hopefully the I can shake things up enough to things interesting.

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or any associated characters, concepts, etc. I have also failed to obtain ownership of the power of cheese. I might own myself and I definitely own my OC's.

* * *

Prologue:

Wherein a Failed Ending Leads to an Unexpected Beginning

* * *

" _The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."_

\- Lao Tzu

" _Nothing happens without the will to begin it."_

\- Dad

* * *

My death, like the life that preceded it, came and went without much notice. No one was more surprised than me when I woke up dead. After hanging around long to ensure that I was well and truly dead, and not caught up a particularly surreal dream, I went to [redacted] and was greeted by [redacted]. After that I was supposed to be [redacted], but something went wrong, there was a lot of [redacted] yelling at [redacted], and I ended being [redacted]. That didn't work and the next I knew I was a being born all over again.

It was weird, experiencing my own birth. Weird and terrifying. There was lots of pain, yelling, and crying. Most of the crying came from me. At least I _thought_ it was me. It was later after everything had calmed down, when I'd finally been handed to the woman who seemed to be my new mother, that I realized what was wrong. The fear I'd been feeling up till now didn't go away just because I'd been brought to the woman who'd carried my new body for the last nine months. But from somewhere within my new self a strange sense of joy sprang up out that felt off somehow. Disconnected? Yes, disconnected, that's what it felt like.

As the days went on two things became painfully obvious. The first was that I couldn't understand a word that anyone said. The language sounded like Japanese or Chinese. I couldn't tell which and it didn't really bother me. It'd be years before anyone expected me to talk to them after all, I'd have plenty of time to learn. No, the thing that bothered me the fact that this body…

This body wasn't mine. It wasn't very obvious at first, especially with all of the panic surrounding the birth, but there was definitely someone else in here. He wasn't much at the time. Just a bundle of instincts and emotions. Whatever it was that went wrong in the afterlife didn't simply fail to wipe my mind before placing me here. It failed to find a vacant body as well. Since there wasn't much I could do from where I was, I ended up waiting. And watching.

I watched as the boy's parents spoke to him, and each other, in whatever language they speak here: His mom had blond hair that fell down behind her back – I couldn't tell the length from my current angle – and a kind looking face. Her face was kind of rounded, with blue eyes and a nose. It was a very nosy nose, like the kind of nose you'd have if you had a nose. The baby's father had dark hair, black, I think, and dark eyes, also black, I think, a slightly pointy chin, and a nose.

I watched as the boy received what assumed to be his name: Nishimoto Shoyo.

I watched as he was taken out of the hospital and brought home: his family lived in a desert city. Their house, like the rest of the buildings here, were made of clay. Nishi's eyes couldn't handle the sunlight well enough for me to make out anything else.

I watched as Nishi's excited parents showed him around there home: it looked fairly normal, from my limited perspective. They had a workshop in the back that was interesting. I mean, normally I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but it looked like this was used to make some weird looking manikins. Some of which had blades and other suspicious things mounted on them. The tone Nishi's mother used to introduce the place had a "this-will-be-yours-one-day" vibe to it, but that may have been wishful/paranoid thinking on my part.

For his part, Nishi was hungry. While he enjoyed the feeling of being moved around and seemed to be picking on his parents' excitement about his new surroundings, he was still hungry and that took precedence over everything else. So he decided to inform his parents of his new desire and I decided to find out if I could somehow stop using his senses. The answer was yes and the silence was wonderful.

Over the next couple months, I got used to my new existence as Nishimoto's spiritual hitchhiker. While I couldn't influence anything directly, I could communicate with him. By directing my thoughts at the newborn I could a sense of confusion and fear. After my third attempt he started crying, and I decided not to try again until he was old enough to understand me.

I also managed to figure out where I was. Between the workshop, the desert town, and Nishi's mother's change into a very familiar flak vest and headband, it didn't take long to figure out I was in the Village Hidden in the Sand. The tiny puppets that Nishi's mom liked to dangle in front of him using what were unmistakably chakra strings were also a dead give-away. Not that any of this helped me figure out _when_ I was, but that was a question for another day.

One final note before I end my turn: chakra. I didn't seem to have any of it. I mean sure, I could feel it all around me. I could feel it in Nishi as charka coils grew and started cycling it through him. I could feel it in his parents, especially his mother. I could feel in the people around the house, in the nearby animals, and, with time, I could even identify the senjutsu chakra that seemed to permeate everything. But I couldn't sense any in myself. If I had to guess, I'd have say it was because I was a purely spiritual entity. Chakra requires an even mixture of spiritual and physical energy in order to exist. Even Yin and Yang chakra, formed with uneven mixtures, still require some amount of the opposite energy.

And with that said, I guess I'll let Nishimoto tell the next part.

* * *

A/N: _Well there. After lurking around for years I've finally posted something of my own._

 _Things should start happening soon._

 _Please Read & Review. I'm really interested in finding out you guys think of this. In exchange I promise to get the next chapter up as soon as I can._


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or bacon. But I think this disclaimer might own me.

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Chapter 1:

Wherein Another Person Narrates the Story

* * *

Nishimoto's POV:

 **"So why are we reading this?"** Hago grumbled, referring to the scroll I'd convinced Oka-san to get for me. I could tell he was curious about it, but I don't think he wanted me to know that.

" _Because you need to know ninjutsu or genjutsu if you're going to be a ninja!"_ He was really clueless about somethings. That's why had Oka-san get us a scroll that explains genjutsu, since you can't use ninjutsu while you're in my head! Even if I can't understand much of it, Hago seemed to get it. He always seems to understand things before I do. He says it's because he's older than me. But there are some things he just doesn't get.

 **"I can't use genjutsu from here either. If you were paying attention, you'd have noticed the part that mentions that some physical energy needs to be mixed into the techniques. Without that, the chakra won't form properly, and the technique won't be affect the target. And since when was I going to be a ninja anyways? That's your job, not mine."**

" _If you're going to live here, then you're going to be a ninja._ " It really wasn't that complicated. I don't why he has so much trouble understanding that. Oh, right, I guess I should tell you where "here" is, shouldn't I. We were talking in my head! Hago and I had been talking a lot since he introduced himself to me.

* * *

I think it was a little bit after I turned five. I was playing with Kun-kun, the new training puppet Oka-san had given me, when I heard someone talking to me.

 **"Jos, gie hie ao?"**

"Kun-kun? Was that you?" I didn't actually think Kun-kun could talk, but there wasn't anyone else around.

 **"Hey, kid. I'm not the puppet. I'm-"**

"You're not!" I was starting to get a little scared. What if it was an Iwa ninja had snuck into my room!? Oka-san had just left on a mission, and Oto-san wasn't even a ninja! What was I supposed to do!?

 **"Yeesh, calm down! I'm in your- just close your eyes or something and use your mind voice, not your mouth voice."** I wasn't really sure but he didn't sound mean. So, I closed my eyes and then I was in a big white room. There wasn't anything in the room except for a man in white robe, with a wrinkly face, red hair, and a long thin beard.

"Who are you?" He didn't look like an Iwa ninja. Or any kind of ninja. When he just kept staring I decided to try thinking it at him. I think that's what he meant by my "mind voice."

 **"I am Hagoromo!"** It worked!

" _Who?_ "

 **"The Sage of Six Paths?"**

" _Who?_ "

 **"The inventor of ninjutsu?"**

" _Wha?_ "

 **"Ah ha ha, I see what's happening here. You're face to face with greatness and it's strange. You don't even know how you feel. It's adorable!** _ **It's nice to see that ninja never change!"**_ He started singing then. It was really weird. Especially once the room started changing, and he showed me how defeated his Oka-san and made the moon. By the time it was over the thing I could think to ask was:

" _So you're Hagor-, Hago-, this Sage person?_ "

 **"Nope!"**

" _You're not!? But then why-_ "

 **"Kid. Nishi. Can I call you Nishi? I have been trapped in your head for five years. I have spent most of that time trying to decide how** _ **exactly**_ **I was going to introduce myself. This was the best I could come up with. But no. I didn't do any of that stuff."**

" _So everything you just showed me was a lie!?_ "

 **"Nope!"**

" _But, but, but-_ "

 **"Everything I just showed is as true as my memory can make it. But** _ **I**_ **didn't do any of it. And I'm not the Sage of Six Paths either."**

" _Then, who are you?_ "

 **"Great question! I'm-"** he paused here. I'm not sure how long I waited, but it felt like forever. Then he changed into a blond kid my age. " **I'm your spirit guide. You can just call me Hago or something."**

" _My spirit what?_ "

 **"Your spirit guide. Y'know, the guy in charge of helping you become a splendid ninja and all that crap."**

" _Does that mean you're going to teach me awesome jutsu or show me how to use puppets!? Cause I wanna be a puppet master, like Oka-san, and join the Puppet Brigade and-_ "

 **"Whoa, slow down there for a moment. I don't know any jutsu and I can't really help you with puppet controlling thingys."**

" _Then what good are you!? he winced a little when I said that._ "

 **"I can't help you with any techniques, but I** _ **can**_ **sense chakra. I've gotten pretty good at it, if only because there is anything else** _ **too**_ **do in here. But I can also offer you guidance. Even if I don't know any jutsu, I** _ **do**_ **know a lot** _ **about**_ **jutsu. And chakra. And a bunch of other things I really shouldn't know but do anyways. In other words, what I have to offer is** _ **knowledge**_ **-"**

I'm not sure how long he kept going after that. I got bored and decided to start working on my Puppet Jutsu again. I still couldn't form chakra strings like Oka-san, but that's why she gave me Kun-kun. Training puppets already have wires attached to them, I just had to figure out to move chakra along them and connect with the puppet. Oka-san said that once I could do that, then I could start learning without the wires. That was waaay more important than whatever Hago was babbling about.

* * *

It was a couple months later, after Oka-san mentioned that I needed to know a jutsu before I could enter the academy and start _really_ learning how to become a ninja, that I realized that _Hago_ needed to know a jutsu too. It didn't matter if I learned the puppet jutsu, if all he had was that sensory stuff. Which is why I asked Oka-san to get me a genjutsu scroll. I mean if Hago could show other people the same things he showed about that sage-guy then they'd have to him attend.

Unfortunately, things weren't really going well. Hago keeps insisting that he _can't_ use jutsu and that it doesn't matter either way. He seems to think no one can hear him. Which is why we're here, arguing, instead of doing something productive, like finally learning how to make chakra strings. (I'm so close to forming them too! Oka-san took even took the training wires of Kun-kun last month!)

 **"Y'know, it's not like I'm here by choice. If was able to leave, I would have done so** _ **years**_ **ago. Besides, it's not I don't want to learn genjutsu, that stuffs awesome if you can do it, but I can't use any of it. I'm just a spirit. I can't use any kind of chakra if I don't have a body to provide the necessary physical energy."**

" _What if you just used mine?"_ At this point I was willing to try anything.

 **"Because even if you could somehow donate raw physical energy to me, if I don't have a chakra circulatory system, then I can't mix with my spiritual energy. No mixture, no chakra. The only way I can any kind of jutsu is if you gave me control of your body. And then I'd have to learn** _ **how**_ **to mix my spiritual energies with your physical energies,** _ **and**_ **I'd have to learn how to use the resulting chakra. After all of that,** _ **then**_ **I** _ **might**_ **be able to start learning jutsu. Don't underestimate time you've spent learning to do all that by instinct."**

" _Great, so that's it then. I'm never going to get into the academy and I'm never going to be a ninja, because my stupid spirit guide can't use jutsu._ "

 **"First, no one's going to keep you out of the academy on my account. Most people don't even** _ **have**_ **spirit guides like me. I don't think they'll bother asking about me. I mean, your parents still think I'm your imaginary friend! No one else is going to care."**

" _And what if they do!? What am I supposed to do then!?_ "

 **"If it really does come down to it, I can just use my chakra sense. I doubt they'll discount that. I could even give it a name:** _ **Spiritual guidance: chakra location jutsu.**_ **You have nothing to worry about. Just do your usual thing and you'll do fine."**

" _I don't know…_ "

 **"How about this. I'll give you a demonstration of my sensory thing."** Maybe…

" _Can you tell me where Oka-san is?_ "

 **"…"** How long was this going to take?

 **"She's out of my passive scanning range. I can't sense her even if I actively search for her chakra, so she probably isn't in the village right now. Or the neighborhood at least."** It was worth a shot.

" _How about Oto-san?_ " I think he's still here at home. I know I lose track of things when I'm talking with Hago but he'd have told if he was going somewhere. Unless he did and I missed it.

 **"In the workshop. I can't tell what he's doing. Civilians don't really use their chakra to do things the way shinobi do. It makes it harder to learn things about the with chakra sense alone."** Hmm… who else is there. Maybe-

 **"I could lead you to the Kazekage's kid. He's down at the park right now. Everyone seems to be avoiding him. Again."** Oh. This again. Hago's always trying to get to talk that Gaara kid. I don't really get it.

" _I don't know. Oka-san said I shouldn't go near him. She said he's dangerous."_ Besides, I had more important things to do. Like train or help Oto-san in the workshop.

 **"How about this. You go down to the park and say hello to the Kazekage's kid, and I'll show you the most awesome, lethal, super-puppet you'll ever see. I can guarantee it's one that no one has ever seen.** _ **Ever."**_

" _I don't know… I don't think I should."_ He's probably lying. He always fades out when I talk to my parents about puppet stuff. He thinks I don't notice, but I do.

 **"All right. I guess you don't want to see it after all. I** _ **was**_ **going to it for when you hit genin, but now… I think I might just end up scrapping it. Then you'll never see it.** _ **Ever."**_ But then again, if he's telling the truth…

Next thing I knew I was on my way down the street, Kun-kun folded up on my back. (Oka-san say's I should always, _always_ , keep my puppet with me.) Oto-san, my last real hope, didn't even argue when I told him where I was going. He just told to have fun and to not get in any trouble. I bet Oka-san would've made me stay home.

* * *

Gaara had pointy red hair. He appears to be building a sand castle. His partner looks to be a stuffed bear. Having observed the target and gathered intelligence, Nishimoto Shoyo, Jonin of Suna, has decided that the best course of action is to return to headquarters and make his report. Moving carefully, to avoid getting spotted by the target or any of the other rogue shinobi operating in the area, Nishimoto, Jonin of Suna, made his to the exit point, when his radio suddenly crackled to life.

 **"Hold it Nishi. You still aren't done here."** His superior barked over the line. Drat! Nishimoto, Jonin of Suna, had really, really, really hoped Hago had forgotten about the whole "say hi to the creepy, dangerous kid" part of his mission. Slowly, ever slowly, Nishimoto, Jonin of Suna, made his way back to the target. Very slowly. So, he wouldn't be seen. Nishimoto, Jonin of Suna made his way back the large rock that he'd been using as cover while preformed was observing the target.

Nishimoto, Jonin of Suna, made ready to approach the target. And then he made ready to approach the target again. He couldn't be too hasty after all, this was a delicate situation and-

 **"Just get on with it already, sheesh. Not getting any younger over here."** With those words of "encouragement" ringing in his, um, ears? Nishimoto, small child, crept out from behind the rock when-

"HEY, GAARA! WHATCHA DOIN'?" Startled Nishimoto took hid, I mean, took cover behind the large rock again, as an overly exuberant girl bounded towards him.

" _Crud. It's **her**._" Only the promise of a brand-new puppet design kept me from racing home at top speed. Aihara Kayo. The girl seemed determined to drive everyone around her crazy. That, or deaf. The only reason I even knew her name was because she'd loudly proclaim it to anyone that stood still for more than three seconds. She'd then proceed to tell you her life story, what the weather was like, and what a great ninja she was going to be, all while interrogating you about _your_ life story. And now she had Gaara in her clutches. I actually felt kind of bad for him. Still, better him than me!

" _Target has been compromised. Returning to fallback position."_ I decided that, in this case, discretion was definitely the better part of valor and turned to leave. Again.

 **"Don't even think about it, kiddo. Loud girl or not, you still need to go over there."**

" _Do I have to?"_ I don't think he'd even notice me with Aihara over there. And what if _she_ sees me?

 **"Just walk over there and say hello to Gaara. You can run away after you've done at least that much."**

"Hrrnnnn." With that very un-ninja-like sound I turned around, again, and walked towards Aihara and her latest victim. Slowly, I pulled Kun-kun off my back and started unfolding him. Maybe I would get lucky and he'd distract Aihara long enough for me to escape.

 **"Not good. The loud girl. You need to move her. NOW!"** Did, did he just yell?

" _Um, why?"_ Nothing seemed off to me, just Aihara chattering while Gaara did his best impression of an inactive puppet. A perfectly natural reac-

 **"JUST DO IT!"**

I didn't know what to do, so I threw the only thing I had on hand. Kun-kun crashed right into Aihara just as the ground she was standing on burst into the air. As the sand settled back down I saw Aihara still lying on the ground, staring at me. Gaara was staring at me too. I don't think I like the way they were looking at me. Then Kun-kun came back down. What was left of him. I don't know if he could be fixed or not. I just ran home and didn't look back.

* * *

A/N: Well here it is. The first Nishimoto chapter. There was a lot more exposition here than I originally intended. A lot less singing as well.

Still, I think I accomplished what I wanted.

Also, a note on Kun-kun's nickname: according to google translate, training puppet is ningyo kunren. Since ningyo is puppet Nishimoto decided to shorten the other word. On that note, if anyone knows a more reliable translator, I'd love to hear about it.

PS: to answer the question posed by weaboo2016: Yes. And no. My current plan is to track down as many compatible SI's as my sanity can manage (and my schedule will allow me read) and then watch what happens when all of them end up existing in the universe at the same time. However, the Dreaming of Sunshine-verse is the baseline the others will be measured against. Of course, none of this is going to matter until the chunin exams and those are still a ways off.

PSS: What does "compatible SI" mean? Whatever I want it to. Mostly it means that the SI's can coexist without trampling over each other.

SI's that completely replacing canon characters are also out. DOS is fine, because even though Shikako replaced Sakura on Team 7, Sakura herself continues to exist as a character. Pulling the String's SI, on the other hand, removes Kankuro from the story and replaces with an OC that shares his name. While the story (at least, what I've read so far) doesn't lose anything because of this, it still disqualifies him for this fic.

PSSS: Well, that was _even more_ exposition than what I had planned. And it wasn't even part of the story. Well, anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them, either here on through a PM.

PSSSS: Pease read & review.

12/1/2017 Edit: made it more obvious when Nishimoto is talking to Hago instead of just thinking.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry about the delay. Life, college, and writer's block all kept getting in the way. Also, this chapter is a lot longer the previous two. I'm still trying to find a good length.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any associated characters. I also don't own any of the other fictional stuff I'll end up referencing/blatantly stealing. I do own my various OCs.

Chapter 2

Wherein strings are tied

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Hago's POV

I hadn't realized Nishi was such a drama king. I can understand being upset over a loss your favorite possession, especially when it was a birthday present. And I guess it's reasonable to freak out over what could be understood as a near death experience. I still don't think it was necessary to runaway crying. You'd think he was being chased by Shukaku or something. It probably said something that no one seemed to care about the crying child racing down the street, but I could be reading too much into it.

Anyways, somehow the kid managed to make it home without help, mine or anyone else's. He wasn't listening to me anyways. Nishi made it five steps in before his dad scooped him up into a hug. Caught us both by surprise. I didn't even sense him there. I need to work more on my passive scanning.

Nishi's dad didn't say anything. He just stood there and let Nishi cry it out. Nishi started explaining what happened once he'd calmed down. Strangely, he left out the parts where I told him to do stuff. He made it sound like the trip to the park was his idea. Nishi's dad (I really need to learn his name) just smiled and nodded. He took Nishi into the workshop, sat him down on a stool, and pulled out another training puppet. It was identical to the one Nishi had lost. I guess they'd planned for something like this to happen.

"This isn't Kun-kun?" Observed Nishimoto, master of the obvious.

"Of course, it isn't," Nishi's Dad replied. Seriously, what is this guy's name? "But a good puppet master should always have a backup with them. Just try not to lose this one, all right? These puppets aren't cheap." I wonder if Kun-kun 1's pieces could be recovered…

"I-I won't." He actually sounded earnest for once, even with stutter. "I'll keep this one safe." I don't think he understands that it's supposed to be a weapon, or, at least, a practice weapon.

"I'm sure you will." And with that said the Mr. Shoyo went back to whatever he was doing before (reattaching the wings to what I now recognize as a mechanical bird-puppet-thing) and Nishi ran off to room. And he was never heard from again. Kidding. We got a couple minutes of peace before someone decided to wake up the neighborhood. (Yes, it's the middle of the day. Doesn't mean there wasn't anyone napping.)

"HEY! CRYBABY! GET OUT HERE AND GET YOUR DOLLY!" A wild loudmouth appeared: Fight, Item, or Run?

"Grr, it's not a doll." So, the kid picked "fight"? That. That's genuinely unexpected. Nishi marched out up to the door, muttering what I could only assume to be the closest things he had to obscenities. He threw open the front door and I felt a surge of fear so strong our mental world went black.

 **"Well, this is unexpected."** The loudmouth was there, we expected that, but next to her, holding Nishi's lost puppet, was none other than Gaara himself. Which means I let a freakin' Jinchuriki sneak up on me. The kid's like a wandering bonfire and I still failed to spot him before Nishi did. You'd think I'd pay more attention to the _only thing I can actually do_.

"Hello Aihara. Um, h-hi Gaara-san." So, the loudmouth's name is Aihara? I'll have try and forget that. Also, really Nishimoto? She doesn't even warrant an honorific? (Wait a minute, Nishi's never used an honorific for me either…) Also, also, mission accomplished! Nishi finally said hi to Gaara! Not in the way I planned, but I'll take what I can get.

"So, you've heard of me? Of course, you have! Make sure you remember this moment! One day you'll tell your grandchildren about the day the great Aihara Kayo!" The loudmouth punctuated this statement with a nice guy (girl?) pose that would have made Might Guy weep tears of joy. (Not that, that would be a difficult feat.) At least she didn't have her hair in a bowl cut. Or Naruto-style spikes. Just plain pigtails that you'd see on any girl her age. Even her hair color was strikingly generic brown.

Thankfully, we were spared any further ranting when Gaara moved forward and shoved the puppet into Nishi's hands. Kun-kun had definitely seen better days. It looked like they'd pieced him together with ninja wire and, is that sand? The limbs were jammed into sockets. Yaaaah, this thing's totaled.

"S-sorry I broke it." Gaara rasped out. (Does that _eat_ his sand or something?) I focused my senses on him. Specifically, the seal planted on him. I can't afford to taken surprise again.

"What do you think! We weren't really sure how to fix it, so we just kind of shoved everything together." I noticed. Nishi lack of reaction probably means he has too.

"Um, thank you. But you didn't really need to-" Nishi's attempt to explain was interrupted when Aihara stuck her hand out.

"It wasn't any problem at all! But now that you mention it, you do kinda owe us now!" Is this going where I think it is? "So as payment I want you to show how this thing works! I mean with those chakra strings you puppet people use!" Yes. It is.

"Wh-wh-WHAT!" Nishi sputtered out.

"I don't really care about that." Thank you Gaara. We need that kind of apathy right now.

"C'mon it'll be fun!" Aihara was practically begging Nishi and Gaara to agree with her.

"D-DAD! Aihara's trying make me teach her puppet stuff!" Nishi's dad popped his head of workshop at this. Took him long enough to get out here.

"Nishimoto-kun, puppet master jutsu isn't really a family secret or anything like that. I don't see what's wrong with you showing someone how to use chakra strings, as long you don't share any of my or your Oka-san's puppet designs." That sounds reasonable. "It might even help you complete the technique."

I was still trying to decide if this whole thing is good or bad. On the one hand, it looks like Nishimoto will be making friends with Gaara, as per the original scheme. On the other hand, now I have to factor in the loudmouth. I hope I don't end up regretting having Nishi save her. At least Shukaku seems to be keeping quiet.

"Right! You heard him! Then we'll meet up tomorrow!" the loudmouth stated, as though the discussion was settled. "At the park, where we were today!" And then she left before anyone could say anything. After she left Nishi and Gaara just stood there awkwardly for what felt a couple of minutes before Gaara finally said his farewells and went, um, somewhere else. I'm not sure where he went. Hopefully he went home.

* * *

After Gaara and Aihara left, Nishi's dad took the original Kun-kun and promised to fix it up on the condition that Mrs. Shoyo never find out about Gaara's involvement. Nishi agreed. And now we're back in his room and have things to discuss. I could tell, because Nishi manifested an avatar in our shared mind space. He only does that when he wants to talk with me. Now then, what to start with?

 **"Well, that happened."**

" _Y-yeah. It did. Now what do I do?_ "

 **"Stay the course. Aihara's involvement is unexpected but manageable. To be honest, I should be thanking her. Without her,** ** _you_** **might have been the one that got sand blasted. And I don't think this little play-date would've happened either."**

" _R-right. Why did Gaara attack her? I mean she's loud annoying but that was taking things too far!_ "

 **"That's something you should probably ask your father about. I don't know how much you're allowed to know about it. For now, just try to understand that it wasn't something Gaara did on purpose. The** ** _thing_** **that gives him control over sand isn't something he can control yet. I was hoping that we could find a way to help him gain some level of control, but, to honest, I didn't really have much of a plan for that."**

" _Oh._ "

 **"I was wondering why you didn't mention me to your father, though."**

" _Huh? Oh, well, I just don't think he'd believe me. And I-I'm afraid of what he'd say if he did believe me. I mean, you did tell me our situation is kind of unique. I don't want Oto-san to think I'm crazy. Sometimes I think I'm crazy._ "

 **"Fair enough, and moving on. Are you ready for that puppet design I promised? You held your end of the deal after all."**

" _Yep!_ " I was kind of hoping he'd forgotten…

 **"Alright, well, you should probably get something to draw with first."** One quick search later and Nishi managed to produce some paper and a brush.

It took me a couple seconds to focus my mind enough to bring up the image I had prepared. Ya see, the problem with living in a place where the environment is controlled by my mind, is my mind doesn't always… cooperate. ADD is fun like that. I spent my first couple weeks here reliving the Undertale Musical before I finally managed to change songs. Which led to a solid year of Disney movies. The musical sections, specifically. Eventually they all just blended together. Some where along the way I gave up on sanity. Fortunately, things cleared up a bit when I started talking with Nishi, but I still don't have complete control over this place.

Anyways, puppet design. Right that thing. Focusing again. Let's start with the head and work down:

First, there's the beak-like mouth at the front of an elongated head. The eyes… hm… the eyes are placed above the mouth, were they'd be on a person. A trio of horn-like blades sprout from the top of its head and extend out past the end of the face. The neck extends from the back of the head, to a more humanoid-looking torso. The neck is long enough to allow the head to rest parallel with the ground.

The body itself is more humanoid: two arms and two legs. The total height comes out to around 7 ft. with the head in its resting position. Each arm has three scythe blades extending from the outside of the forearms: One at the end of the wrist; one at the midpoint of the forearm; both blades face their points towards the hands. The third scythe blades are mounted next to the elbows and are faced backwards from the others.

The legs spikes running down the sides and the knee caps have forward facing spikes. The feet are splayed out, like a bird's, and with scythe-blades filling in for talons. The torso itself appears plain from the outside, but can open to reveal the extending scythe-ribs. A long, segmented tail extended from the puppet's "pelvis" arcing over the puppet's head. The tail ended in a spear tip and additional blades stuck out from the tail segments.

 **"The mouth can also be modified to fit a poison gas nozzle or a needle sprayer. Theoretically, the whole thing can fold into a blade wheel."**

" _W-well, it's, um, very sharp._ " WARNING! WARNING! UNDERSTATEMENT DETECTED!

 **"Yes, but the question is, do you like it? And did you get all that down? Do you think it needs more blades?"**

" _Um, w-well, I guess? What's it called anyways?_ " While he said this, I glanced through his eyes at his drawing. It looked like a bunch of barely coherent scribbling.

 **"I call it a Hork Bajir. It's from a book series I read when I was kid."**

" _Alright. How do you spell that?_ "

 **"I have no idea."**

" _…I think I'll just ask Oto-san to make it for me. Could you keep the image there? Please?_ "

 **"Alright. Alright..."**

Nishi went to the workshop. The workshop was itself was attached to the entry room, kept separate by a sturdy-looking wood door. Inside, the workshop was almost as big as the rest of the house. Actually, now that I think about it, the workshop was probably here first. There were a couple of work benches with a mess of puppet parts and blades on them. Not the kind place you want start digging through. The bird Mr. Shoyo was working on was hanging from the ceiling, among other finished, and half-finished puppets. I noticed, and Nishi pointedly ignored, Kun-kun 1 lying in pieces on one of the work benches. Nishi's dad appeared to have completely abandoned the training puppet and was seemingly building a new one from scratch.

"Hey, Oto-san. Can I tell you about a puppet I just thought of?" Asked Nishi, with all the eagerness of an excited puppy.

"Huh? _You've_ got a puppet for me? Well, alright, let's hear it." I don't think Mr. Shoyo is taking Nishi seriously right now. Then again, why should he? He started taking things seriously once Nishi started describing Hork Bajir to him. He pulled out some drawing paper and started drawing up a rough sketch. He also made a few suggestions here and there, like rigging some of the wrist scythes with wires that could allow them to be swung around like bladed flails, storage "pockets" for reapplying poison to some of the blades mid-combat, and some stuff about storage seals that he said he'd leave to Yanai (Nishi's mother?) to figure out.

"Well. It's definitely sharp." Like father, like son, I guess. "I don't think this puppet is suitable for a beginner like you though. For one thing, unless we allow the blades to fold or retract, you won't be able to carry the puppet with you. Even without the blades, the puppet's size and weight might end up slowing you down. You'd have to keep it in a storage scroll and that'll slow down the deployment, at least until you get better at using storage seals. Looks like I'm going have to ask your mother to show how to use storage seals…"

"Does that mean you'll build it?" An excellent question.

"Now, I didn't say that. Those were just some things that you should keep in mind, if you ever end up using a puppet like this, alright?"

"Yeah, alright..." Nishi's excitement seemed to drain away at that comment, I don't think he noticed the way his father carefully stowed the plan in one of the workbench's draws as he left.

* * *

 **"So, how much** ** _can_** **you do with your chakra strings?"** We were on our way down to the park, and I'd be lying if I said that I paid attention to Nishi's training sessions. When I use his senses, I use _all_ of them. Including his fatigue, which feels bizarre when I'm not the one doing anything. The feeling of chakra of chakra being shaped or is downright alien. If I get careless while Nishi's mixing chakra, then he might get some of _my_ spiritual energy, instead of his own, and _that_ feels a little like getting sucked down a vacuum cleaner. It doesn't hurt but that's because it leaves me feeling numb instead.

But this "playdate" is too important for me to justify cutting myself of and leaving Nishi all alone. Not that he's going to _be_ alone this time. Nishi's dad decided to come with us this time. Half to provide supervision, half to carry the extra training puppets. It seems he was absolutely serious when he said Nishi could show Gaara and Aihara how to use the puppet master jutsu.

" _Well, I can make them. And I can link them with Kin-kun, but I'm still trying to figure out how to make him move the way I want him too. I'm going to ask Oka-san for some help when she gets home. Whenever that is._ "

 **"Hmm… well it doesn't look like there's a lot of kids hanging out at the park today and the people who are there seem to be doing their own stuff, so you shouldn't have to worry about an audience. Actually, it looks like they're just avoiding Gaara. And possibly Aihara. But mostly Gaara."** I focused my chakra sense on Gaara. I can't actually sense Shukaku's chakra when Gaara's not using it, but if that oversized windbag decides to try anything I need to be ready for it.

" _Okay._ "

Aihara was waiting for us when we arrived. Gaara was building a miniature Sunagakure, but he stopped and waved when he saw us. Aihara just pointed and…

"You're slow! We've been waiting here forever!" Aihara, loud as ever.

"Sorry about that, I needed to prepare some extra puppets for you two to use, and, well, you weren't exactly clear about the meeting time." Mr. Shoyo replied calmly, before setting down the puppets he'd been carrying. He turned towards one of the benches at the edge of the park. "I'll be watching from over there, but, still, try to not to break anything. Alright."

"Got it! Bye!"

"Alright."

"…O-okay."

Aihara picked up the wooden stick-thing the training wires were attached to and started fiddling with it. Gaara stared at the puppet in front of him but gave no other indication that even acknowledged its existence.

"So how does this jutsu work?" Aihara asked, at a reasonable volume for once.

"W-well, first you need to send your chakra along the wires. A-and then you, when you reach the puppet, you split the thread, and connect it to the hard points. L-like this." Nishi picked up the control stick next to Gaara and sent his chakra down the line. I could feel the moment when he reached the puppet and made the connection: at that point his chakra became stable and the outgoing flow cut down significantly. "Once you've connected to the puppet, you have to synchronize your physical movements with your chakra control in order to make the puppet move the way you need to or activate the mechanisms."

Nishi moved the control stick and attempted to make the puppet stand up, the arms and legs moved out of sync and instead it just flail ineffectually.

"Oops. Sorry-"

"Alright, but what about the Chakra Strings? Y'know the ones that don't use these wires?" Aihara pointed at wires dangling from her control rod as she spoke, completely ignoring Nishi's "demonstration."

"Well, um, once your used to the shape your chakra takes while its on the wire, you try taking it off the puppet and try to extend the string from the wire's end. With the wire as a, um, guide, sort of. Then you can clip off the ends of the wire a little bit at a time until you can form the strings from your fingertips."

"How long can you make a chakra thread?" Aihara asked, looking thoughtful.

"I-I don't know. I'm still figuring out how to control the puppet. I haven't tested my length yet, I think Oka-san said that the longer the threads the harder they are to maintain and the more chakra you have to use."

"No, I mean how long can _you_ make a chakra thread? Do you still use wires?"

"Oh. No, I don't need them anymore. See, watch!" Nishi pulled the Kin-kun (Kun-kun 2) off his back and held it out in front of him. I felt him move is his chakra, in a way similar to how he did earlier with the wire, and then he let go of the puppet and stepped back. It sat there in air suspended from Nishi's strings, since it was still folded up it looked more like a floating box than anything else. Nishi then moved his fingers and the puppet's limbs unlock and unfolded, making it look like a floating wooden doll, instead of a box. Nishimoto practically glowed with pride as Aihara and Gaara clapped for him.

"Can you use strings on other things?" Is Aihara asking what I think she's asking?

"U-um, I think so? We normally use puppets, but I think you can get attach strings to anything. But I don't-"

"What this?" Aihara held a wooden shuriken, cutting off whatever Nishi had been about to say. Nishi set Kin-kun down and detached his strings, before taking the shuriken from Aihara.

He attached a string to it and then let it float in the air.

"See, you can do it, but it doesn't really do anything. Shuriken are boring that way."

"But if you threw it, could you use the string to control where it goes?" Yes, this _is_ going where I thought it was. Is Aihara trying to get Nishi to replicate that thing Chiyo did with her kunai?

"Um, probably? I'm not very good with shurikenjutsu, but maybe if I use the string?" Nishi glanced at a one of the rocks that served as the park's primary attraction. Er, its only attraction. Seriously. The "park" was just a field of sand with random rocks scattered around it.

Nishi flicked a finger and sent the shuriken at the rock. The rock must've been out of Nishi's range, because I felt the string attached to the shuriken fizzle out and break. I'm not sure if Nishi hit where he was aiming, but he did at least hit the rock.

"Ooooh. That's not exactly what I was thinking of, but it was still awesome! Alright, um… what's your name?"

"N-nishimoto Shoyo."

"Right! Nishimoto, you have officially passed your audition! As of now, you are the third member of Team Kayo, the greatest ninja team in the Land of Wind, no, the entire world!" She pointed up at the sky as she ended her speech. Then she reached out grabbed Gaara's and Nishi's hands and tried to pull them together. I think she was going say more but at that point I'd stopped paying any attention to her.

The moment Aihara touched Gaara, foreign chakra, bijuu chakra, surged out of him and into the sand nearby.

 **"MOVE NOW!"** I yelled the second time in as many days. Nishi grabbed onto Aihara and turned to run just as sand beneath our feet exploded. Aihara was pulled away just as something grabbed onto Nishi's shoulder's and we went flying out of the out of the sand and towards a familiar chakra signature. Nishi was dropped next a tall blond woman, ('course pretty much everyone's tall from my current perspective.) I could sense Aihara get dropped on the other side. Nishi's dad started ran over and started to say something but stopped when the woman glared at him. A pair of bird puppets landed in front of her and pointed their wings back at us. I took this moment to appreciate the fact that every feather was a kunai. After that everyone just sort of froze while we waited for the sand to settle back down.

Shukaku's and Gaara's chakras were a mess, swirling around each other, merging and separating. If Gaara loses control and transforms here… thekazekagemightskipafewstepsandmovetoeliminateGaarapersonally; thetimelinecouldbedamagedirreparably. WhatshouldIdo?WhatCANIdo?

Things didn't get any better once visibility returned. Gaara looked like he was dealing the mother of all headaches (which he probably was.) And the new arrival, who I belatedly recognized as Nishi's mother, it was her chakra that I recognized, tensed up a bit when she saw Gaara.

"Dear, could you _please_ tell me why our son was playing with the jinchuriki?" Mrs. Shoyo asked icily.

"I didn't think anything like this would happen! I was just happy Nishimoto-kun finally made some friends. And things worked out last time so I thought-"

"Last time! What do mean last time!" At this point I decided it would be best to block them out. Mostly because Gaara was still freaking out and Aihara had already started running back towards Gaara,thesameAiharathatriggeredthisepisodecrapshecan'tbeallowedtoreachhim!

 **"Nishi you need to stop Aihara! NOW!"**

" _A-alright!_ " Instead of running or doing something useful Nishi just raised his hands and…

 **"Wait, those were still attached!?"** The scattered limbs, torso, and head of Kin-kun floated up and moved to reassemble themselves between Gaara and Aihara. Unfortunately, instead getting put back together, the parts crashed together in a heap. But Aihara stopped running and even Gaara was paying attention to the puppet.

"I can do this…" Nishi muttered under his breath as he separated the Kin-kun's pieces and plugged the limbs into their sockets. This time he managed to plug the limbs in, but he swapped the left arm with one of the legs. The head missed entirely and somehow ended up in Kin-kun's left hand. Everything seemed to pause as everyone took in the abomination Nishimoto made.

"Nishimoto-kun I think-" Whatever Mr. Shoyo was about to say got cut off when Nishi separated Kin-kun again. This time when a put the pieces back together he got all the limbs back in their proper places. He even managed to reattach Kin-kun's head. 'Course Nishi also managed to flip the torso somehow, leaving Kin-kun's head in a very unfortunate position. Aihara politely doubled over with laughter and Gaara… remained silent and still.

Nishi's next attempt ended with an arm and leg getting swapped again, while the other arm stuck out from where the head should have been. Nishi pulled Kin-kun apart one time when someone placed their hand on his head.

"That's enough Nishimoto-kun. It's over now." Nishi's mom said with a tense smile.

"H-hold on I can get it." Nishi's mom just shook her head and put her hands on Nishi's. Reluctantly, he cut the strings. It was only then that I noticed just how low on Nishi was. If she hadn't stopped him, Nishi probably would have passed out.

"Everything's fine now! Right, Gaara?" Aihara shouted at us from next to Gaara, who looked upset, but there _was_ a distinct lack of bijuu chakra in his system. Interesting. I wonder if I could encourage Nishi to screw in a more spectacular fashion, should this scenario be repeated?

Hold that thought

 **"Nishi, someone's approa-"** is what I started to say but, " **Never mind. He's already here."**

An oddly feminine-looking, blond man appeared at Gaara's side. He put a hand on Gaara's shoulder and said:

"I'm sorry about that. You shouldn't have had to step in." He said apologetically. "C'mon Gaara, let's go." Gaara slowly waved good bye while the man (his uncle was it?) hoisted him onto his shoulders. They disappeared without another word.

"The Kazekage shouldn't be letting something like that to wander around." Nishi's mother said. She pulled a couple scrolls out of her pack and laid them next to the bird puppets.

"Gaara's not a thing! He's a person!" Aihara shouted, extra loud, probably to make up for her silence during Gaara's departure. "Don't talk about him like he's some kind of object!"

"Kid, you don't know as much as you think you do," Mrs. Nishi didn't even look up while she sealed her puppets back into their scrolls. "that _thing_ isn't like you or me. It's dangerous and uncontrollable. I'd expect you to realize that now. We'd all be better off if the Kazekage put it back in its pot and buried it."

"That _thing_ is Shukaku! Not Gaara! He just needs someone to show how to control it." Aihara must have struck a nerve. Or maybe Mrs. Shoyo was just tired of listening to her. She stood up and shot Aihara a glare that made her go pale and clam up. I could feel Mrs. Shoyo's chakra doing _something_. It wasn't something I recognized.

"You listen to me _brat_. I don't care about what you think you know about this. I don't care if you go off and get yourself killed. Don't. Involve. My. Son. Are we clear?" Aihara nodded meekly. "Nishimoto-kun, Samon. We're leaving." Who's Samon? Oooooh, that's what his name is. One down, one to go.

Ignorant of my new discovery Nishi and Samon followed Mrs. Shoyo out of the park and down the street. Not quietly of course. We didn't even make it five steps before Mr. Shoyo started babbling about how we'd reached this point. Nishi's mom had some choice comments about her husband's decisions. I think he also mentioned something about reinforcing Nishi's new puppet or something. I'm not really sure when or how he managed that and I wasn't really paying much attention anyways. I don't think Nishi was either. He stopped and looked back at where Aihara was picking through the pieces of the broken practice puppets. She waved when she noticed Nishi looking at her and, to my surprise, Nishi waved back before turning around and following after his parents.

"Yanai, he did promise to show those two how to use chakra strings." Samon explained to Nishi's mom. "Would it really be that bad for Nishimoto-kun to spend some time with someone his age?" Nishi's mom, sorry, er, Yanai, glared at Samon a little before sighing. She looked Nishi in the eyes before asking:

"Nishimoto is this true?"

"U-um, yes. Kind of."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." Yanai said sternly. "I don't want you to be around that girl. Not if she's going to insist on _befriending_ that thing. Keep your distance from them, alright." She then rounded on Nishi's dad. "And I want _you_ making sure that happens. There isn't always going to be someone around to save you guys."

"Yes, Oka-san/dear." The Shoyo men answered in perfect harmony.

"In any case, you aren't going to have time to teach anyone anything. While I am proud of you for making as much progress as you have, Nishimoto-kun, you still have a lot to learn before you can call yourself puppet master. And even more to learn before you can call yourself a ninja. Starting tomorrow we're going to start your training. Understood? I don't want to a repeat of today's screw ups."

 **"I do."**

"Yes, Oka-san. _Shut up Hago_ "

* * *

_A/N: I finally found a way to introduce Nishi's parents' names! Hooray!

Before we go I'd like to put a question into everyone's head:

Who do you think the Self Insert is? Who do you think the OC is? Hago? Nishimoto? Kin-Kun?

Just something to think about.


End file.
